Category Archives: personal

So Many Sweet Choices!

Posted on December 21, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

Last Saturday, my husband Steven and I made another sweet stop (in addition to the stop at So Sweet Candy Cafe, which I wrote about on Monday), at Honey Brook Hobbies in Ilion, NY.  Alas, I did not take any pictures.  But I thought in lieu of my usual Wuss-out Wednesday,  would give a fun business a quick shout-out.

In addition to freshly made baked goods and candy, Honey Brooks offers a variety of toys, decorations, and gifts.  I love reading all the hand-made signs with sweet and funny sayings.  Steven looked speculatively at some soft fuzzy blankets, and I found a good Christmas present for my great-nephew Shepherd (I don’t have to worry about him seeing this; he doesn’t read blogs yet).  With great self-control I did not purchase any baked goods, but Steven treated himself to an eclair.

As I looked over Honey Brook’s Facebook page just now, I keep seeing all these pictures of cookies.  Dammit!  I just bought some cookies at Friendly Bake Shop in Franklin, and I was NOT going to purchase any more!  Well, if I refrain from getting any of these yummy cookies, I can always go back around Steven’s birthday and order a wonderful custom-made cake.  Or should I do that from the So Sweet Candy Cafe?  Or Friendly Bake Shop?  Oh dear!

As we paid for our purchases, on Saturday I told the Honey Brooks lady how we had been at the So Sweet Candy Cafe earlier.  She did not seem to mind us talking about the competition.  Well, I think there is plenty enough room for more than one bakery in the Mohawk Valley.  Of course it will not help me reach my weight-loss goals if I feel I must purchase yummy baked goods from all of them.

Honey Brook Hobbies is located at 4 E. Main St., Ilion, NY, 315-444-8254. You can Like them on Facebook, and visit their website at https://www.honeybrookhobbies.com/.

 

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You-Know-What Kind of Tuesday

Posted on December 20, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

Guess which one is me.

I was looking in my Media Library for my picture of Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff with Lugosi saying, “Thank God it’s Friday,” and Karloff saying, “You idiot, it’s Tuesday!”  when I noticed the poop and said, “Hey!  That’s what I feel like right now!”  This is, of course, fake poop.  You see, I can’t even feel like poop properly!  I feel like fake doodoo!  I hope the humor obscures the fact that I am once again complaining about how I feel.

 

Here are my guys!

For the record, I did not for one teeny-tiny, itty-bitty second today feel that it was Friday.  I felt all happy on Sunday that I only had to work five days before having a week off.  Hell, it’s still five days!  Don’t mind me; my life is really not as bad as all that.  I’ve just had a kind of a not very enjoyable day.  You know the days when it seems that there are 82 minutes in each hour and maybe 112 seconds per minute.  I finally got home to begin working on Christmas stuff I need to get done, and I feel SO TIRED!

Then again, that is perfectly appropriate for Tired Tuesday.  Oh, here’s a Freudian typo:  at first I started to type Turd Tuesday.  Teehee!  I wonder if I dare put that for the headline.

 

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Sweet Stop on Saturday

Posted on December 19, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

What could be more seasonal than candy, fudge and yummy stuff?  Oh, who am I kidding?  I eat sweets and fattening things all year long.  However, during the holidays, we can all pretend we have a good excuse, and I will thank you NOT to rain on the yummy stuff parade (you know who you are).  This by way of introduction to a well-deserved shout-out to the So Sweet Candy Cafe in Utica, NY.

I do not get to the So Sweet as often as I would like, because I do not get to Utica as often as I used to.  However, when Steven had last Saturday off and the So Sweet was having a Holiday Open House, we naturally seized the opportunity.  I remembered to bring my Tablet, so I could take a few pictures for the blog.

I love an old fashioned Santa even more than I love the old fashioned candy.

One reason for seasonal visits to the cafe is that they decorate accordingly.  Steven and I both admired the Santa, and made several slow trips around the display looking at the stocking stuffers.  Covered pretzel rods, candy canes, and old fashioned candies like Lemon Drops and Boston Baked Beans…

This is where the Skelleton sat in October.

Because it was the Open House, there were some free samples.  Naturally I tried a few.  Then, since we definitely wanted some fudge, we asked to sample that too.

Mmmmm…. fudge…

 

It was delicious fudge for a really quite reasonable price.  We got three different kinds, a quarter pound of each.

I should have gotten a couple of close-ups of some of the fancy shaped truffles.

We ended up not getting any of the fancy stuff from the truffle case, but I’m afraid I stared at it so long that the calories seeped in through my eyeballs.

It was a fun and delicious part of our Saturday morning adventures.  We still have not eaten all the fudge and candy we purchased.  That may not stop me from sneaking back again before Christmas.  I may need some truffles.  Or cookies.  Or biscotti.  Or….

The So Sweet Candy Cafe is located at 531 Varick St., Utica, phone number 315-765-6463.  They are open 8:o0 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 8 to 7 Friday, 8 to 4 Saturday, and 9 to 1 Sunday.

 

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Does Santa Give Coal to Bad Bloggers?

Posted on December 18, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

Some bloggers have guest bloggers or re-blog others’ blogs on a Sunday.  Maybe I should consider doing something like that.  Or I could keep having posts like Wrist to Forehead Sunday, when I really don’t feel capable of posting anything good, yet I like to post every day.  Oh, what the hell.  You can always feel smugly superior, all you bloggers who make better posts than this on a regular basis. Or you can just point and laugh.  You know who you are.

So Christmas Eve is one week from today.  Am I ready for such a thing?  Of course not!  Why would I be!  But I am tremulously happy that I have five more days of work, then a week and a day off.  Yes!  You would not think it was a mere three weeks since I had time off, or that I have had every weekend off for a very long time.  I can’t help how I feel.  I want some time off.  I’m sure many people can understand this feeling.  Those of you who can’t, well, congratulations on your far superior work ethic.

Where was I?  Ah yes, nowhere in particular.  Just trying to type a few remarks in so I can continue to pretend to be a daily blogger.  I hope you are all having a lovely December.  Steven and I had a few friends over last night.  I guess you could call it a Christmas party, although I usually invite more of a crowd to a party (so any local friends who are thinking, “She didn’t invite ME to her party,” please don’t feel bad).  We had a very fun time.

I did a very little Christmas shopping this morning.  And by “very little,” I’m afraid I mean I purchased one present for one person may or may not like it  and bought a bunch of stuff for myself.  In my defense, most of what I bought for myself was yarn to make more afghans which I will give away (I have plenty of afghans of my own).  It is not a great defense, however, because I love to sit on my couch, watch TV, and crochet an afghan.

Speaking of which, that is exactly what I want to continue to do.  This is Wrist to Forehead Sunday merely because I fear I am not making a good blog post.  I am having a rather enjoyable time apart from that.  I hope my readers have had a wonderful weekend.

 

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Setting an Example on Scattered Saturday

Posted on December 17, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

I pause amidst my Saturday gyrations for a Scattered Saturday post.  It’s going to be a quick one, too, because I am frying sausage and it does not do to neglect these things.

My wonderful husband, Steven, had a rare day off, so we wanted to spend at least some time having a few minor Mohawk Valley adventures.  Accordingly, we got an early start and headed to Utica to the So Sweet Candy Cafe for their open house.  Heading back to Ilion, we went to Honey Brook Hobbies, Ilion Wine and Spirits, and Original Herkimer Cheese.  I can do blog posts about all these things, and I hope to in the coming days.

Before and after our adventures, I wrote out a few more Christmas cards.  Alas, I was not in time to get them to the post office before it closed.  It was, in fact, a little cold to walk to the post office, much less go running.  I daresay I should not have let that stop me had I been on my own for the day.  Perhaps a walk to the post office tomorrow, or even later today and look at other people’s Christmas lights.

And what about a run, you may ask.  Well may you ask! I confess, after the Reindeer Run 5K, I once again fell off the running wagon.  I did not mean to, but, well, these things happen.  Now I begin to repeat to myself the mantra: If you are too busy to exercise, you are too busy.  Substitute “lazy” for “busy,” though. Sorry folks, but there it is.  I set a bad example.

But here I am approaching 300 words.  Doesn’t that set a good example for making a blog post every day?  Oh well, given the general quality of my posts, perhaps not.  Then again, some people find them amusing. For those who do not, there are other blogs to read.  Happy Saturday, everyone.

 

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Is It Friday Already, Finally?

Posted on December 16, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

Yes, it is another Late, Lame post.  I wonder if I should make a sub-category to reflect that?  Nah, I’ll just post.  I confess, I had my doubts this week as to whether I would make it to Friday, or indeed, if Friday would ever come.  You’ll have that.

So with Friday came the deadline for Mohawk Valley Living magazine.  If I was a really good writer, like I pretend I am, this would not matter, because I would have already written my article or articles and submitted them.  And here we come to the ugly truth about me. However, I did what I could and submitted something that I feel is not completely contemptible.

Then I had to rush into some nice-looking clothes, because my friend, Kim, was picking me up to go to a wine tasting at Valley Wine and Liquor.  It was Adirondack Winery of Lake George.  I have tasted their stuff before but never been to the winery.  I must get there one day, though, because they have some dry wines that are not carried by the liquor store so were not available for tasting.

From the wine tasting, Kim and I headed to the Herkimer Elks Lodge for Cucina Berto’s Tom & Jerry Night.  Steven joined us already in progress.  We had a couple Tom & Jerry’s, and Steven and I each had a cup of Italian Wedding Soup.  Yummy!

And now we are home.  I’m afraid this post will read like a Flustered Friday, and indeed, parts of it felt flustered to me.  However, it was a fun Friday, and I am looking forward to an equally fun Saturday.  I’ll write a blog post about it.

 

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Moonshine for Me!

Posted on December 15, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

Steven and I just got back from Valley Wine and Liquor, where we sampled the wares of DikinDurt Distillery of Herkimer.  I had tried their stuff before, having visited the distillery and written about them for Mohawk Valley Living magazine.  I want to bring Steven out to the distillery, but we have not found a chance yet, so I was happy he could have a chance to try their moonshine.

First we sampled my two favorites from when I tried them before: Toasted Maple and Mohawk Valley Fire.  I described the latter as “cinnamony” in my article.  Perhaps it is not a word, but I stand by it.  I still think the Toasted Maple would taste good in coffee.  However, I will not get to test that theory yet, because we purchased the Mohawk Valley Fire.  I will let you know how that tastes in coffee, as soon as I find out.  As a final sample, we tried the clear stuff, which I had not tried before.  That was good too, but we preferred the flavored stuff.  We must go to the distillery sometime, though, because I have yet to try the berry flavors: raspberry, blueberry, blackberry.

We had a nice chat with Elizabeth Stack, one of the owners of the distillery.  She remembered me from when my friend Kim and I visited the distillery.  She said they had gotten a great response from the article.  That was nice to hear. We agreed that it was a great magazine.

For more information about DikinDurt Distillery, you can visit their website at https://www.dikindurt.com/.

 

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Wordless? Not So Much. Christmas Decorations? You Got It!

Posted on December 14, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

I thought I would try one of them there Wordless Wednesdays.  For one reason, Steven and I have to get our Christmas cards written tonight, so I can’t sit here with the computer on my lap pondering what to say.  Of course, being me, it will not be entirely wordless.  I enjoy words far too much for that.  But I took a few pictures of our Christmas decorations I would like to share.

“Jolly good tree, don’t you think, m’dear?”

My Mom and Dad gave me this fiber optic tree some years ago.  It is our only tree these days, for reason I believe I explained in an earlier post (and if I didn’t, it’s not that interesting anyways).  The cool bears we purchased at Michael’s in August, GA, when I was in the Army, an increasing number of years ago.

Busy, cluttered, a little random… just like my life.

I guess I got kind of a weird angle on this picture, and you can’t really see all our little things very well, but you can get an idea of the fun surrounding our CD player.  On this CD player, each year I attempt to listen to every one of our Christmas CDs, including as well as a wide variety of music, a couple of versions of A Christmas Carol.  I usually miss a few.  We have a large collection (who, us, go overboard?  Say it ain’t so!).

This is not all our DVDs and videos either.

I randomly hung the Christmas trees up, and Steven added the stocking.  The stocking belonged first to Tabby, then to Spunky.  If we ever get another dog, it will be his or hers.  The Christmas trees are an invention of mine, a kind of a granny triangle (regular readers may recall that the only thing I know how to crochet is a granny square).  I’ve been making them for years, sometimes as individual ornaments, sometimes as garlands like this one.

Well will you look at that?  I am over 300 words. Wordless Wednesday indeed!  I can’t do anything right!

 

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I Don’t Feel Abominable, Just Tired

Posted on December 13, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

I just can’t get away from Tired Tuesday.  But what do you want from me?  I worked all day, got my boobs squished (see yesterday’s post), then shoveled my drive way.

Yes, winter returned to the Mohawk Valley today, and I guess it could have been worse.  Roads were pretty bad when I drove into work shortly before 6 a.m., although I know the plows had been around.  I enjoyed that weird personality quirk of mine that I laugh at bad weather.  I chuckled all the way from my car to the building, being careful not to slip on the slush. I just kept looking up and marveling at the sheer amount of snow coming down.  It did make me laugh.  Luckily it did not keep up at that great rate all day.

There was not a massive amount of white stuff on the driveway, and it was still coming down, but I got out to at least take off a layer.  I TOLD Steven not to come with me, because his back is bothering him, but he joined me anyways.  I guess most spouses don’t do what the other one tells them to do, do they?  I almost never do myself.

What I am really looking forward to now is that first cup of coffee tomorrow morning (again, see yesterday’s post).  I told all my friends at work that I would probably show up with a BIG smile on my face.  So that will be two days I show up at work smiling: laughing at the snow, then giddy over the coffee. Perhaps the giddiness will carry over and I will write a better blog post.

I think this is one of my co-workers.

I thought I would just throw in the Abominable Snowman for good measure.  I think he is kind of cute.

 

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Mental Meanderings about the Mammary Glands

Posted on December 12, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

Today’s Monday Mental Meanderings is in the nature of a Public Service Announcement, with an added attraction for those of you who like to point and laugh at others’ discomfort (you know who you are).  Tomorrow, I go for a mammogram.

NO, I do not expect any of you are crass enough to be amused at the thought of my mammary glands being squished and photographed.  At least, I hope not.  The discomfort I was going to share for your amusement is that I have now gone over a week without coffee.  I cry a little even as I type it.

I don’t suppose non-coffee drinkers will understand, but I know some of you are raising your hands in horror at the thought.  In fact, a number of females have told me they were never advised to stay off caffeine.   When I made the appointment, the nurse told me I could drink decaf, and the reason for it is that the caffeine makes one’s breasts more sensitive.  I don’t remember a mammogram hurting that much to begin with, but it has been at least seven years since I’ve had one.

Ah, here is the Public Service Announcement part:  DON’T BE LIKE ME!  Get your cancer screening tests at the recommended intervals.

Back to the laughing at Cindy portion of the post.  I eased into things by having one small cup of coffee in the morning for two days. Then I had tea for two mornings.  I had some decaf filter bags a co-worker had given me.  Yes, there is still caffeine in decaf.  The lady told me I could drink decaf, so that was what I had for my usual mid-morning cuppa.  On the fourth day, I started having decaf from a filter bag for my first cup as well.  Oh, it does not taste as good.  It does not make me feel content to be out of bed and ready to face the day.  I suffer.

Almost every day, I have been tempted to just have a damn cup of joe.  All these other women have had mammograms and never been told to stay off coffee.  I don’t remember a mammogram hurting and even if it’s awful, it can’t last that long, can it?  I’m a tough girl!  I can take it!

Well, I can be tough enough to stay off coffee, too.  For one reason, I can be pretty stubborn once I have made up my mind to do something.  For another reason, once you have gone so far with something, you might just as well go all the way.

So now I am really, Really, REALLY looking forward to that first cup of coffee.  Alas, my appointment is at three tomorrow afternoon.  I fear if I immediately indulge, it will keep me up all night.  However, Wednesday morning will be a wonderful time for me.

And once again, to all my female readers:  Get your mammograms!

 

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